U.S. Compliance Corporation

EPA Fines for Violations of the Clean Air Act Costly According to US Compliance Corp

Excelsior, MN -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/23/2015 -- Privately held manufacturing firms must attain and sustain environmental, health, and safety compliance. Manufacturers rely heavily on employees to make the business productive and profitable. Lost workdays due to sickness or injury quickly diminish profits; employees want to know manufacturers care about their health and safety. U.S. Compliance Corp helps manufacturers avoid non-compliance lawsuits and fines by partnering and creating a customized program, practical to implement, easy to follow, and preventing workers' comp claims or costly citations.

Clearwater Paper Company agreed to pay a civil penalty and upgrade pollution control equipment at its Lewiston pulp and paper mill to address alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. The Lewiston Tribune reported that Clearwater Paper will pay $300,000 in fines plus interest to the federal government and spend $800,000 to address problems that led to the violation.

According to the agreement, which was filed in federal court, the alleged violations involved the release of total reduced sulfur and methanol and were documented after an Environmental Protection Agency inspection of the mill. Scott Downey, manager of air compliance for EPA's Region 10 office based in Seattle, said inspectors noticed emissions coming from doors on a pulp washer at the mill and detected other emissions from a sawdust digester.

"It was a violation but it was not an imminent threat to public health," said EPA spokesman Mark MacIntyre. "If we saw a big enough problem with their operation, such that we thought it might have immediate health effects, we have other emergency powers we can us. In this case that is not what we saw." Following the inspection and notice of violation, the company spent $43,000 to replace doors on the pulp washer to mitigate the first source, and will spend $800,000 to fix emissions from the sawdust digester.

Manufacturers with $25M-$250M in annual revenue have the same requirements to keep up with the latest government regulations. U.S. Compliance Corp has over 25 years of experience keeping more than 1,000 customers across the U.S. and Canada compliant with OSHA and environmental laws. Manufacturers must keep innovating, making better and dynamic products, while U.S. Compliance Corp keeps track of the changing regulations. Outsourcing this vital function to experts ensures manufacturers stay on top of the requirements and provide implementation and documentation of safety and compliance programs.